Door apparatus for rest room

Abstract: A door apparatus for a rest room includes a wall member defining a predetermined space and an opening for an entrance and an exit thereof; a door body for opening or shutting the opening, having a substantially half-cylindrical shape, being rotatable about a center of curvature of the half-cylindrical shape; and a driving device for driving and rotating the door body about the center of curvature. In a preferred embodiment, the driving device has a pulley with a peripheral shape of involute, a wire wound about the pulley, and a weight connected to an end of the wire. The weight is inserted into a tube receiving oil.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a door apparatus for a rest room which is preferably used for a public comfort station, a rest room or a lavatory which is located at a public park or a lobby in a hotel, and in particular to a door apparatus which enable to improve used efficiency of the space in the rest room. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a public comfort station is usually provided with a box-shaped construction which defines a rest room. Normally, a rectangular plate door is mounted on the construction at the opening thereof through a hinge in a manner being able to open or shut. An alternative door arrangement is described in EP-A-0 305 340 which is concerned with a security vestibule entry for controlled access to banks and the like. In that arrangement two doors of arc-shape are provided to give controlled access to the bank. The doors are operable to provide angular openings of 90° or less. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided door apparatus for a rest room comprising two spaced apart wall means facing each other and defining a common entrance to and exit from the rest room, door means for opening and closing the entrance and exit, said door means comprising a first half cylindrical door member rotatable about a centre of curvature of its half cylindrical shape, a second half cylindrical door member also rotatable about a centre of curvature of its half cylindrical shape, the door members being separated from one another and mounted to permit relative rotation to take place between them, the door members being arranged one within the other during part of said relative rotation, each of said door members being rotatable from a first position lying wholly between the spaced apart wall means, to a second position displaced 180° from the first position. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows the first step in using an embodiment of a door apparatus for a rest room according to the present invention; Fig. 2 shows the second step using the door apparatus of Fig 1; Fig. 3 shows the third step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 shows the fourth step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 shows the fifth step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 shows the sixth step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 shows the seventh step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 shows the eighth step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 shows the ninth step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 10 shows the tenth step using the door apparatus of Fig. 1. Although a rest room of a large-sized construction is usually situated in a recess so as to be inconspicuous, it is not preferable when it comes to using the rest room. In other words, a rest room of large-sized construction is preferably situated at a place which is easy to be found as far as it is not unsightly. While it should be emphasised with respect to a rest room of a physically handicapped person, actually it is apt to be ignored. This is because a conventional rest room does not have a proper external appearance for installing it in an optional place in a large-sized construction without a hindrance. Although a lot of rest rooms are acceptable to a wheelchair, such rest rooms are also situated in a recess so as to be inconspicuous. Therefore, this embodiment provides a door apparatus for a rest room which can be installed on a wide place making it easy to be used. Figs. 1 through 10 are explanatory views showing a door apparatus for a rest room showing the changes in a position of a rotary door thereof. In these drawings, Figs. 1 to 5 show a series of steps of entering into the rest room, and Figs. 6 to 10 show a series of steps of going out the rest room. In these drawings, reference numerals 82, 83 denote walls, and reference numerals 84 denote a rotary door. The rotary door 84 consists of a pair of half-cylindrical door members 85, 86 which are separated each other. The door members 85, 86 consisting the rotary door 84 can rotate relatively each other as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 and Figs. 6 to 18. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 87 denotes a user getting on a wheelchair 88, both user 87, 87', who has gone in the predetermined position and before going in, respectively, are indicated in the same drawing. Fig. 1 shows the first step in using the rest room 81. One door element 85 out of the door elements 85, 86 consisting the rotary door 84 is rotated in a clockwise direction, so that the rotary door 84 proceeds from the state of Fig. 1 to the state of Fig. 2. One or both of the door elements 85, 86 is preferably rotated by an oil cylinder (not shown). When the door element 85 is further rotated in a clockwise direction from the state of Fig. 2, the rotary door 84 proceeds the state of Fig. 3. This state indicates the third step in using the rest room 81, and in this state the user 87 is surrounded by the door elements 85, 86 of the rotary door 84. When the door element 85 is further rotated in a clockwise direction from the state of Fig. 3, the rotary door 84 proceeds the fourth step shown in Fig. 4. When the door element 85 is further rotated in a clockwise direction from the state of Fig. 4, the rotary door 84 proceeds the state at which a volume V of the rest room 81 becomes the maximum value V2 as shown in Fig. 5. This stage indicates the fifth step in using the rest room 81, and the rest room 81 is used by the user 87 at this state at which the volume V of the rest room 81 is the maximum value V2. When rotating the wheelchair 88 at the angle of 180° from the state of Fig. 5, the step proceeds to the state shown in Fig. 6 (the sixth step). The user 87 goes out of the rest room from the state of Fig. 6 through the process of Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 (the seventh step through the tenth step). As well understood from the above, this embodiment can make the volume of the rest room large enough to use, while this rest room is excellent in the external appearance, so that this rest room can be situated on the center of the large-sized construction without inconvenience such as unsightly appearance.

Claims: A door apparatus for a rest room (81) comprising two spaced apart wall means (82,83) facing each other and defining a common entrance to and exit from the rest room, door means (84) for opening and closing the entrance and exit, said door means comprising a first half cylindrical door member (85) rotatable about a centre of curvature of its half cylindrical shape, a second half cylindrical door member (86) also rotatable about a centre of curvature of its half cylindrical shape, the door members being separated from one another and mounted to permit relative rotation to take place between them, the door members being arranged one within the other during part of said relative rotation, each of said door members being rotatable from a first position lying wholly between the spaced apart wall means, to a second position displaced 180° from the first position. A door apparatus for a rest room according to claim 1 in which the outer of said door members (86) has free edges which in at least said one rotational position lie adjacent the respective spaced apart wall means (82,83). A door apparatus for a rest room according to claim 1 or 2 in which the two door members (85,86) can be rotated into positions one within the other with the outer door member (86) arranged wholly between the spaced apart wall means (82,83) to enable a user to move into a position between the spaced apart wall means (82,83). A door apparatus for a rest room according to claim 3 in which the inner of the door members (85) can be rotated relative to the outer door member (86) into a different position whereby the door members (85,86) can surround a user as the user enters or leaves the rest room. A door apparatus for a rest room according to claim 4 in which in the said different position of the inner door member (85), the door members (85,86) can completely surround the user. A door apparatus for a rest room according to claim 5 and with the inner door member (85) remaining in its said different position, in which the outer door member (86) can be rotated from the position wholly between the wall means (82,83) to another position in which the inner and outer door members (85,86) lie one within the other whereby the user instead of being completely surrounded by the door members (85,86) can pass into the rest room through a space created by such rotation of the outer door member (86).

Inventors: KIMURA MOTOYASU, KIMURA, MOTOYASU, KIMURA, MOTOYASU, C/O KIMURA IND.CO.LTD.
Applicants: KIMURA INDUSTRY CO LTD, KIMURA INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A47K3
IPC codes: E06B3, E05F15, A47K3, E05F1